Vienna Volksoper

The Vienna Volksoper ("Volksoper Wien" or "Vienna People's Opera") is a major opera house in Vienna, Austria. It gives about three hundred performances of twenty-five productions each season which runs from September to June. The theatre seats 1,473 and 102 standees.

The opera house was built in 1898 as the "Kaiser-Jubiläums-Stadttheater" (Kaiser's Jubilee Civic Theatre), originally producing only plays, but in 1903, operas and operettas became part of the program. The Volksoper is Vienna’s largest venue for operas, operettas, musicals and dance theater.

The first Viennese performances of "Tosca" and "Salome" were given at the Volksoper in 1907 and 1910 respectively. World famous singers such as Maria Jeritza and Richard Tauber appeared there; the conductor Alexander Zemlinsky became the first kapellmeister in 1906. In the years up to and through the First World War the Volksoper attained a position as Vienna's second prestige opera house but, after 1929, it focused its repertoire on light opera. After the Second World War, the Volksoper Wien became the alternative venue to the devastated Wiener Staatsoper. In 1955 the Volksoper returned to its former role of presenting opera, operetta, and musicals.

Chacteristic of its presentations is the 2006-2007 season during which seven operettas will be staged. These include such favorites as Franz Lehár’s "The Merry Widow" and "The Count of Luxemburg" and Johann Strauss II's "The Gypsy Baron" and "Die Fledermaus" plus two popular musicals, "La Cage aux Folles" and "The Sound of Music" and dance programs.

In September 2003, Rudolf Berger - former opera director at the Strasbourg Opera - became the company’s director, while Marc Piollet became musical director.

ee also

*Vienna State Opera
*List of important opera companies

External links

* [http://www.volksoper.at Official website] , in English
* [http://www.wien.info/article.asp?IDArticle=10233 Profile from Wien.info]